Millennials' financial decisions have been heavily covered by media organizations — something that has infuriated many of the generation, as news that "millennials are killing" another industry has become a common headline.

When millennials decide en masse against purchasing certain items, from hot wings to homes, it has a measurable, negative impact: declining sales, layoffs, and, in some cases, bankruptcies.

Still, naysayers are right about something.

While millennials' preferences have had a destructive impact on several companies and industries, they had no say in creating the environment that has restricted their income and shaped their financial perspective. Instead, if we're looking for someone to blame, we can target the generation that created a perfect storm for molding a uniquely thrifty generation focused on short-term rewards: baby boomers.

During the recession, millennials were in their teens or graduating from college. In other words, as millennials came of age, they saw their parents' generation plunged into financial distress.

housing crisis foreclosure great recession

(REUTERS/Robert Galbraith )

"I think we have got a very significant psychological scar from this great recession," Morgan Stanley analyst Kimberly Greenberger told Business Insider. "One in every five households at the time were severely negatively impacted by that event. And, if you think about the children in that house and how the length and depth of that recession really impacted people, I think you have an entire generation with permanently changed spending habits."

As a result, Greenberger says, millennials don't spend as freely as previous generations.

Reacting against boomers' financial decisions and spending habits is part of the puzzle in understanding why millennials are making choices that could kill companies that based their business on appealing to established trends. However, millennials' scars are not purely psychological.

student loans debt

(Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in New York City’s Union Square participating in a street-theater production during a protest against the rising national student debt.Reuters/Andrew Burton)

With these economic burdens, it is difficult for millennials to save money. Thirty-one percent of "young millennials," ages 18 to 24, and 33% of "older millennials," ages 25 to 34, don't have any money in their savings account, according to GOBankingRates.

Debt and a lack of money in savings obviously make it harder to make major investments such as buying houses or cars. Couple this with a lack of trust in financial institutions (again, thanks to the recession) and you have a generation that is more likely to spend on experiences or something they can enjoy now, instead of saving up for an uncertain future.

As a result, when millennials splurge, it will be on something like avocado toast — a $10 treat instead of a multithousand-dollar investment that many lack both the money and the faith in the economy to make.

All of this is not to say millennials aren't killing certain industries. They are, as their preferences force companies to adapt or perish.

But when a headline says millennials are killing another industry, it is worth remembering who and what created a generation that has become an industry-murdering machine.